Trotting

This year we are “Thanksgiving orphans,” in that we don’t get enough days off to make a cross-country plane trip worthwhile for this holiday. Our dinner will be tonight at the home of some generous friends of friends. I made the persimmon bread and chocolate truffles that we are bringing to the feast yesterday, so I found myself with a little time this morning.

I showed up a little after 8 am to the high school track. By California standards, it was cold outside. There were some people in full gloves, hats, and fleece. That struck this East Coast girl as overkill, but there were also some people in shorts. That struck this East Coast girl as crazy. A week or so ago, I was missing the fall colors in my old hometown in Massachusetts, thinking that there was no way that fall in California could compare.

It doesn’t, exactly, but as we were off, with us walkers bringing up the slow rear, I ventured into a section of the neighborhood that I’ve never seen before. Some of the trees here are spectacular in the number of different colors visible on a single tree. At one point I left the confines of the marked route to take a picture and almost got run over by some bicyclists. “Heads up! Heads up! Stay on your side!” they yelled, as they rushed past. (I had thought–or had hoped anyway–that I left that rushy attitude ahead with the fast runners, or behind back in Boston).

I chatted for a while with one mother whose kids were lagging. And I took more pictures. I seemed to be the only one doing so. The juxtaposition of palm trees and regular deciduous trees side-by-side still fascinates me, not sure why.

I began to feel gratitude–not forced–that I live here now. In a place where I can go for such a walk right in my own neighborhood, and get all my pedometer steps for the day before lunch even starts.

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One thought on “Trotting”

North Florida is similar in that you get a variety of different colors during fall. I grew up in Maine, with the sudden, eyebleeding color changes – I say “eyebleeding” because after I’d been down here a while and we were on the Internet, I went to load a page of red fall foliage and literally my eyes hurt when the photo finished loading. I’ve come to prefer variety over monotones, although I know not everyone in this area feels that way. I hope you had a great Thanksgiving. 🙂

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The Brain—is wider than the Sky

I am a neuroscientist, educator, geocacher, Unitarian-Universalist, amateur violinist, and parent. I have always been fascinated by how people's brains learn, and especially why this process is easier and more fun for some brains than others. This led me to get a PhD in Neuroscience, work in biotech, and then become a science educator and writer.